Your Right to Know

WASHINGTON — The White House is finally on the solar grid, under prodding by environmentalists
and nearly four years after then-Energy Secretary Steven Chu pledged that solar panels and a solar
water heater would be installed on the historic building’s roof.

The American-made panels are converting sunlight into energy at the first family’s residence as
part of President Barack Obama’s “commitment to lead by example to increase the use of clean energy
in the U.S.,” said Matt Lehrich, a White House spokesman.

The panels on the White House are part of a plan to improve the energy efficiency of the
building and “demonstrate that historic buildings can incorporate solar-energy and
energy-efficiency upgrades,” Lehrich said.

It’s estimated that the changes will pay for themselves in energy savings over the next eight
years — if the next president doesn’t remove them.

President Jimmy Carter had 32 solar panels installed in 1979, when an Arab oil embargo triggered
a spike in fuel prices, but President Ronald Reagan had them removed in 1986 when the roof was
resurfaced.

President George W. Bush had some installed on a maintenance building and on the president’s
cabana to heat water for the outdoor White House pool, and environmentalists have been pressing
Obama to go further.

The retrofit includes energy-saving equipment such as updated building controls and
variable-speed fans, in addition to the 6.3 kilowatts of solar generation, Lehrich said.